« April 2008 | Main | June 2008 »
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I'm so excited that I just had to do a second post and brag a little bit.
Channel 2 ran my little news story, and promoted the upcoming Tumbleweed Cotillion, both on the news, and with a link in the article! These people rock.
Here's the link to the story AND the video...not sure why they list only Pam in the title...on the news they mentioned both of us of course...oh well....did I mention that they plugged the Tumbleweed Cotillion in the article and the video?!
**note** I have done nothing but eat since March 15th (the last wedding) and I wish I could say the camera added those extra pounds, but...no. I will be eating sensibly beginning tomorrow at sunrise. *sigh*
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I'm not sure at all that I got anywhere near the corect spelling there, but, you get the idea... Aren't these the cutest danged aprons this side of Tennessee? The sewing Queen or northern Nevada outdid herself this time. They'll be in my booth at the Tumbleweed Cotillion later in June, unless they get wrangled away from me sooner. Yee-ha!
$30 each, plus $4 shipping. (They'll be appearing on my website later this week, or you can email me if you want one of these cuties right away)
**edited to add** Both aprons are sold. Thank you!
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Last week we had a heat wave hit the biggest little city. We went from the high 60's to 95 degrees within a matter of a few days. We've cooled back off a bit to more normal temperatures now, but it got everyone in the mood for gardening, and then it occurred to me...
Remember the holiday home tour last Christmas? It was so inspiring to see each other's homes and holiday decor ideas! Why not have a garden home tour in June like we had a holiday home tour last December? Sound fun? Here's what I am thinking...
If you'd like to share pictures and a post about your garden, your summer porch, backyard or patio, whether it be big or small, you know, all of your outdoor living spaces, which is my favorite part of outside...bringing the inside out!
(you can use photos from this year or a past year- the idea is to inspire us all with your outdoor decor and blooms!) send me your blog link before June 17th (and one photo if you like) and I'll compile them all into one big post on my blog, linking your blog to mine. Then, I'll publish the post on Wednesday, June 18th. (This gives us all a few weeks to get motivated to finish getting our gardens and outdoor living spaces prettied up!)
Feel free to take my little logo picture at the top of this post to post on your blog on the sidebar or whatever. (See what I mean? This will work exactly like the holiday tour did last December!)
Does this sound fun? I hope so!
I'm off to water my flowers now.
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I did it.
I broke down and got myself a new camera. I'd been researching them for the past seven full months, (after the last engagement party when my camera was holding up the photo shoot of posed shots because of such a slow response time to actually take a picture) and I finally did it. I ended up getting the Canon Rebel XSi and I am so excited to learn how to operate it, and yet, I am still a little afraid of it. I'm not great with change, and this will take me a little bit of practice before I am feeling confident with it.
My old camera has been good to me these past 6 years, but it has become increasingly obvious that it is getting...tired. It stalls and freezes up more often than not, and with the 3 weddings I became painfully aware I had the slowest shutter time of anyone taking pictures in the room.
You know that I take pictures every single day of my life. Now, with two grandbabies (two grandbabies!!) on the way, and my various side businesses blooming, it was at long last, time for a more advanced and better quality camera.
I ended up buying it (QVC baby- gotta love their return policy, fast shipping, great prices, and the four months no interest charges payment plan!) and it arrived at my doorstep over a week ago. Last night I finally got up the nerve and took it out of the packaging to check it out. Wow. Nice. I set it on my night table and looked at it. I held it in my hands and tried to get used to the bulky heaviness of it. I mean, this is a serious picture takers photographer's camera, people. I still kind of can't believe I bought it.
This was a huge investment for me.
*sigh* A huge investment in me.
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A little shamelss self promotion here....
You know that I consider myself a professional garage saler. In fact, I was interviewed for an article in our local paper about garage sales. This coming Saturday, the local CBS affiliate station (Channel 2, KTVN for all you locals!) is doing a "ride along" with the Navigator and me to see up close and personal what saling and thrifting are really like. The story is scheduled to air on June 5th, unless there is some huge breaking news that steals our time slot.
With all that being said, I thought I'd share my most recent treasures.This past weekend was wildly successful in terms of junking. I got so many great things that I am not quite sure exactly where to begin with my painting projects.
I grabbed the rocker for little Peanut Roberts for a mere $2.50. (This was, of course, before I knew there would be two grand babies this winter! Now I will most certainly be on the lookout for another rocker!)The frames will be in the Cotillion; some with chalkboards and some without, and the darling sofa table will be done up in proper cottage style. The doggy dish will have the metal bowls replaced with vintage soup bowls and maybe some applique's.
My favorite find of the day had to be this fabulous $5 French chair....oh, just you wait and see what I have planned for it! I'll give you a hint...there will be a Fleur di lis involved!
I am so excited to get started, but this will have to wait until tonight after the grown up job day is over...hmmm, now, the only question is....which piece do I begin first?
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You know, I told you that I felt this was going to be "my year". Well, my sweet friend Dawn is having an incredible year as well. (You must know Dawn. I shared these darling tags that she made, and I first met her online when I bought these beautiful pillows from her...then, at long last, we met in person at the Victoria Magazine launch weekend!) She sold her little Antique shop, and has let her passion for altered art bloom. (Actually, it has been more like an explosion of creativity coming from her!)
Her altered art has already been recognized in publications, but this time, there is a very good chance she'll make the cover!
Please, let's pull out all the stops, and show what a difference the blog world can make, by supporting one of our shiniest stars. Take just a moment to go here and vote for her incredible work to grace the cover of Somerset Life!
We're wishing you all the best here, Dawn!
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Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
I am so very thankful for my growing family.
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This photo makes my heart melt. It's my little sugar man, at three and a half. Those soft chubby knees, those little sincere eyebrows...that adorable little bow tie....I just want to squeeze him!!!
He and my daughter-in-love gave me the biggest, best-est news this morning....another grand baby is on the way! (did you all hear me squealing all over the country Saturday morning?!) The due date is just three weeks after my daughter's due date! (Little cousins! Can you believe it?! This is all too wonderful!!!)
Sometimes life is just so good. I am ashamed to admit that on more than one occasion in the past year and a half I had trouble remembering this.
*sigh* Thank you God, for reminding me.
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Kim from The Twice Remembered Cottage ~ One Woman's Cottage Life is having the Second Annual Cottage Charm Giveaway and I decided to join in! (Cindy inspired me to get on board!)
I wasn't quite sure what to put in my giveaway, since not everyone likes exactly the same things, so I decided to combine some things that I like...
The Cottage Style book (it's not Cottage Style magazine) is full of great decorating ideas, and the Cabbages and Roses Vintage Crafts book is bursting with all kinds of things to make yourself. I added an embroidered vintage pillowcase and a sweet little match holder that I did up myself (it makes a great wall mount pencil or flower holder as well!)
**edited 5/21/08 to add** OK, apparently I have somehow confused some of you. I did not MAKE the match holder. I painted, antiqued and decoupaged the match holder. Sorry for all the confusion!!
The drawing will be on Saturday, May 31st. You have
until then to leave a comment, on this post or any post after this one, and if you post on more than one blog post, you'll be entered more times..so, the more posts you do (one comment per blog post) the more chances you'll have to win!. (if you don't have a blog, please make
sure you include your email address!)
Thanks to Kim for creating this contest!
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Another busy day. I'm up and at 'em early for Toastmasters, then work, then an event for work..after work. I wanted to pop in for a minute to share another b-i-g cupcake.
Have a fabulous Thursday, people!
ps.Thanks so much for all of the support and confidence yesterday in my latest adventure of baking my way to bliss. I'm still struggling with the logistics of how this is all going to work out around my gown up girl job, but I am sure I'll figure it out so I can do both.
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You know I love baking my cupcakes and cookies. And you know that I love packaging them up so sweet, with tags, and ribbons, and boxes even more. Well, I am stepping things up, from baking for friends and family to a full blown baking business (once again, this is on the side of my grown up girl job) under the umbrella of A Cottage Industry.
A catering /restaurant owner friend met with me last week to talk about being their "cupcake supplier" and another catering friend has offered me time in her commercial prep kitchen, so it all fell into place. (I love it when things happen like this!) Now I'll get to be even more creative with my cupcakes, from wedding and baby showers, to cupcake towers, to new flavors and all sorts of fun little details.(..and hopefully I'll even make a little money while I'm having so much fun!)
Oh! And there are new additions happening all over the place. I've now added the jumbo sized cupcakes to my menu (I call them "Big Boys") and they are going to be filled with yummy cream or fruit fillings. I'm adding a webpage to my website, showcasing the fabulous cuppy cakes,(sorry, local delivery only) and I've designed an online flyer for emailing clients,as well as a hard copy printed brochure, and business cards.
I am working on the last details for the wedding cupcake brochure now. Once that's complete I am going to do a small photo album of themed cupcakes and details that I've already done in the past...an inspiration book of sorts. (having those three weddings and showers within twelve months has really paid off for me in this area...)
*sigh* I am having too much fun.
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See those girls up there? They started it. Blogher I mean. Have you heard of Blogher? I've seen their logo on blog rolls and I was curious. I checked them out. Hmmm, cool idea. I love the way so many women take charge and come up with an idea and then run with it. Amazing.
Anyway.
It's a network spot for women bloggers to gather and grow. Share ideas and connect. So, I am wanting to know... are you a Blogher? What's your take on the group? Is more for just younger mommy blogger types, or for everyone? I'm thinking it's something I could learn from.
I'm impressed with their numbers of members, and the site in general. Oh, and it turns out that they have a conference coming up in San Francisco this July. The agenda sounds pretty interesting to me. (In fact, they are even having a contest for us to nominate our favorite Blogher's and the grand prize is an all expense paid trip to the big convention in San Francisico. Wow.)
I'm currently a memebr of ZNE and Women Take Wing. Now I'm wondering what other groups are out there that I have somehow missed....tell me what groups you're involved with, which ones you like, and maybe which ones you're not so crazy about. I really want to know.
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Lots and lots of little re-do's from Saturdays finds. Remember, when you're out thrifting, look closely at everything. It's the tiny stuff that is so easy miss, and also, so easy to reinvent, so pay attention. Here's one example. There were the adorable lil' tap shoes...
that were foofied with fabulous ribbon (left over from the last wedding!) in exactly two seconds. Really.
Can't you just picture these in a baby girl's vintage nursery, or place, just so, on a hutch, near old pictures of children and babies?
*sigh* Too, too cute.
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Yes people, it's the most wonderful time of the year. Aah, yard sale season. When a young girl's heart turns to thoughts of turning trash to treasure, and the highlight of the week comes very early on Saturday mornings, in a stranger's driveway. It's all about the hunt for the coolest junk at the cheapest price, and eating Krispy Kreme donuts while sealing a deal.
On the yard sale success meter, I'd rate today an 8 out of 10. We managed to fill the navigator's car to the roof before 9:30 this morning. We did however, pass on the cat towers.(I'll share pictures of my haul a little later.)
Not only did we shop for items for ourselves (for the Tumbleweed Cotillion, in my case) but we also managed to find a present for a mutual friend of ours. You see, she's revamping her home and her patio, all in a tropics theme. Kind of "Tommy Bahama meets British colonial meets luau" and it's coming along nicely. We knew when we spotted this...
...that we had to get it for her. Big spenders that we are, we each threw in fifty cents and couldn't wait to stop by and surprise her with it. (nothing better than sharing a little yard sale love with kindred spirits)
Sure, her grandkids might enjoy it, but we were thinking it would be fabulous fun at a Mai Tai party too. She loved it, and our party idea.
I mean, wow. Island bowling with coconut balls. (It just doesn't get any better than this for summer fun, does it?)
*sigh* Yes, I lead quite a wild life.
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Here's my centerpiece for my vintage themed Mother's Day table.So charming. I typed "God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers" on a page from an old dictionary. (I simply tore the page out of the book and fed it in my printer.)
Propped up on the top of the typewriter next to the dictionary page, I placed my printed menu, along with a photo I cut out from the little postcards in the Vintage Memories kit. Some old thrifted treasures from around my cottage complete the centerpiece.
For place mats I used more pages from old books, to add to the vintage feel.
The postcard place card completes each place setting.
The mantel showcases old baby photos and the "Mother" banner, adorned with pearly white buttons.
I'm so very happy with my table scape and the best part is that it took me only about 35 minutes, start to finish, from printing my papers from my kit to putting the final touches on my dining room.
Pure nostalgia. I love it.
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...oh my. I've discovered...
GAP KIDS.
Last Sunday I made a 2 hour brief stop at the
Kids Gap at Reno's newest Mall. Actually, until the big announcement I
was unaware we had such a store. I headed in there to pick up a little
somethin' somethin' for the Mother-to-be for Mother's day.
Oh.
My life will never be the same. For Gramma'sand Nonnies and Meme's-to-be, GAP KIDS is the Disneyland of baby and maternity clothes. I could have stayed there all day, drooling on the sweet baby clothes and stuffed animals. Little shoes, shirts and bonnets. Little sweaters and coveralls. And the outfits for the Mama's-to-be! So stylish. (And not a single "Baby on Board" shirt in sight, thankyouverymuch.)
In the end I found somethin' alright. Several somethin's to be a bit more precise. All too adorable. They're gonna be darling on her.
I still can't believe she's pregnant.
*sigh* As if she wasn't already cute enough.
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